The Protector
by angiedotdotla
Summary: -ABANDONED- Maybe falling into a fairytale and learning you have to save the world isn't so cool after all.
1. Prologue

F_antasy_. _Quests_. _Magic_. I used to think that those three words were only there to help little kids fall asleep at night. Now I know better. Fantasy is real, as real as the world you are probably in right now. My former world. Earth. My life was forever changed by a prophecy that was revealed over five hundred years ago. A destiny that forced me headfirst into a whirlwind of magic and danger. One that pitted me against the most perilous of circumstances. But, I soon found out. Not all fairy tales end well, and mine so far isn't. You may not believe me, but this is about as true as the truth can get. I was just a normal fourteen year old girl, one with the usual hopes and ambitions that came with entering high school. But like in stories and novels, the most ordinary is cast out, and given the most impossible, incredible jobs to do. But this is not just a story, nor a novel that an author just randomly made up. This is real. And I, Arielle Asriel, am the new protector. I was meant to save the world.


	2. Chapter 1

Rain. It poured down, driving the animals and birds into shelter, and worms out of their homes and on to the wet pavement to avoid drowning. I was walking to school, holding my umbrella with a death grip, for fear it might take off with the wind. My worn sneakers were no match for the puddles that now covered at least three-fourths of every sidewalk. The shoelaces dragged along, wet and slimy. By the time I got to school, I was cold, exhausted and sopping wet. I hung up my now soaked sweater in my locker and rushed to my first class, my sneakers squeaking every step I took. It was a typical rainy Tuesday, or so I thought.

The gloomy weather lasted the whole day, molding everyone's moods. Even the teachers seemed unhappy. Finally, after several hours of long-winded lectures, and the boy behind me kicking the back of my chair, school let out. Everyone went back out in the rain with a ton of homework weighing their backpacks down, and bricks for feet.

I was relieved when I saw my house, with its peeling white paint and tacky windows that were covered with pictures and colors that were painted by me as a carefree six-year-old. This was the house that I have known, loved, and cherished my entire life. Every turn of the corner was a flashback, a memory. Crayon scribbles on walls, holes where Dad tried to hang up objects, then taken off. This was home. I sprinted up the driveway with newfound energy, rainwater splashing up at my legs, soaking the hem line of my jeans. I took a step into the house, waiting for the warm, familiar welcome. It was silent.

I've been in many silences before. Peaceful ones, awkward ones, surprised ones, comfortable ones, and shocking ones. Never one like this. It was almost like it hiding a secret. A dark one. This silence loomed like a black cloud, blotting out the sun, ready to unleash its thunderstorm. Uneasiness came in a wave as I threw my backpack on the staircase, and uneasiness was met by contempt. _Psh. Arielle, you are a freshman. Time to start acting like one. Why are you still uncomfortable home alone? You started staying home alone in SIXTH GRADE. _My logical mind was fighting against my instinctive one, until the latter was driven into the back of my mind. As it turns out, the back of my mind would be smarter than every other part of my brain.

To settle my restless thoughts, I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. It was dim, as the only light in the kitchen was flickering, almost swaying back and forth. The usually cluttered counter was bare, except for a purple gemstone. I turned toward the sink, my brain taking a second to comprehend what I just saw. I stopped, and turned back. It was still there, enormous and beautiful, glimmering in spite of the poor light. Subconsciously, I moved forward, drawn to it. As I neared, it an aura seemed to pulsate from it, overwhelming me for a second. I stared at it. It was finely cut, with sheer edges and a fine, smooth surface. It seemed to invite me to touch it, almost urging me to. I couldn't control my actions anymore. I felt my hand drawing closer, and brush the even, flawless surface of the gemstone. Then everything disappeared.

I was swept into a whirlpool of blinding white light. I had no senses, only white. My heart stopped pumping, brain stopped thinking. I would be legally dead if I was on Earth. I wasn't . After for what seemed literally an immeasurable amount of time, I awoke. I blinked slowly, and realized I could move again; I could think. My vision was still blurry, so I rubbed them hard a few good times. When it cleared, my brain couldn't register what I was seeing. I was lying on a beach; pearly white sand clinging to my skin and hair. Waves of dark blue water hit the struck the shore with force, but with a certain kind of grace. The sky was a hot pink, hurting my eyes to look at. Everything was quiet, except the gentle sound of waves. But there was something in the north, stealthily moving forward. Darkness.

I watched numbly, unable to grasp anything at the moment. I watched as the darkness smoothly crept forward like a massive black panther, and then engulfing the surrounding islands. The cries of children and desperate yells of adults filled the air. As the darkness loomed closer, every instinct I had was screaming at me. _MOVE! RUN NOW! GO! _But I stood there, paralyzed. I would love to say that I came to my senses and took off, away from black, away from the cloud of destruction that it came with. But no. Instead, I laughed hysterically in the face of it. I thought that this was all a dream, and that my imagination was way too active. I wish it was.

As it came closer, a wave of nausea hit me. I dropped into the warm white sand. I suddenly was short of breath, and my lungs screamed for more oxygen. After what seemed like hours, my rescuer came. A pair of strong arms lifted me up from the sand, and that was the last thing I remembered before I passed out.

…..

I woke up to the soft scuffles and whisperings outside my room. _Room? _With difficulty, I opened my heavy eyelids. It was warm, the fireplace illuminating the room, giving everything a look of vibrancy. I was lying on a large, silk-sheeted bed. It was comfortable, cozy, and warm. As I felt the heat creep up my spine, I fell asleep again; I couldn't hold up any longer. Even though I was in an unknown place, I instinctively knew I was safe.

Vivid dreams splattered across my sleep like a rainbow of paint spilled on a white canvas. They were all different, coming and going so fast that they all became one blur. But one stood out. There was a woman, a pregnant woman. She in a forest, cold, hungry, and exhausted. Dark circles underneath her tortured eyes, matted brown hair, filthy and wild. She crawled over to a clearing, and lay down on a bed of dry, crunchy autumn leaves left over from fall. She closed her forest green eyes and fell into a shallow sleep, shadowed by uneasiness. Evening came. The woman was writhing around and pain, obviously in heavy labor. Tears slid down her dirty cheeks, forming a pearly-white trail through the filth she had gathered through the last few days.

Suddenly, a burst of light came through the trees, and a large scaly animal appeared. It was beautiful, from the tip of the long, majestic tail to the powerful arch of its neck. It was covered with shimmering blue scales that glittered even in the dim light of twilight. The woman trembled, and bowed her head, as it was obvious that she was going to be easy prey for a hungry dragon. "Do not fear me. I am not here to hurt you," the dragon rumbled, its broad chest vibrating with every word.

The woman trembled, and said, voice shaking," Why have you come to me?"

The dragon twitched its tail. The movement shook its whole body. Not responding, it reached out a gnarled claw. The woman flinched, thinking that she and her unborn baby were going to die. She closed her eyes, knowing that she was in no position to flee. But what the expected did not come. She was gently lifted up between the dragon's majestic wings, and into the twilight sky. They soared among the stars, finally landing at a clearing. Unknown to the woman, it was heavily guarded with a thick barrier of magical thorns and bristles. A small stream coming from the spring uphill was trickling along the side, and hundreds of flowers glimmered in front of the moon. The moonlight cast a silver glow, adding to the clearing's soft beauty. But the woman probably didn't notice it. She was gasping for breath, her face almost purple with effort. The dragon gently settled her on a bed of deerskin and flew away, coming back instantly with a clawfull of herbs. The dragon set to work tirelessly. And if you were near there, you would hear the shrill cry of a newborn baby piercing the air of the new dawn, and see the strange sight before you. The dragon relaxed, and leaned back. Suddenly, seconds after she leaned back, a strange look came into her green eyes, mysterious and ominous.

They turned into an electric purple, striking and portentous. She opened her powerful jaw, but the words seemed to have not come from the dragon itself.

"_I, Healer Dragon of the mighty Lavintia, speak for the Spirit of the Stars_

_Of your kin, will be a hero_

_The savior to Lavintia. _

_Shall conquer darkness and bring light to innocent._

_Among the green-eyed, _

_Emerge a violet eyed,_

_The new protector of the Stone."_

The new mother clutched her baby, and stared into green eyes of her new child. It was flecked with purple.


	3. Chapter 2

_A/N:I split the second chapter into halves, and edited it. PLEASE REVIEW!_

I woke up, and the dream disappeared. But the words didn't fade. It kept echoing distantly in my mind, like I was standing at the mouth of a cave, and the words were coming from the inside. I sat up, leaning onto the fine-grained mahogany bed frame. I still didn't know where I was, so I jumped out of bed onto the fire-warmed wood flooring. I was still wearing the clothes I was before, so I had to brush off some remaining sand off.

There was a mirror in front of me, tall and elegant, its gold feet on the floor in front of me, and the top barely brushing the ceiling. My curly brown hair was tangled and matted, bags underneath my violet eyes. _Violet…._I shook my head and looked into the mirror again. There was no mistaking it. My eyes were always a dark blue, which was weird, since none of my parents had blue eyes, but they were now a deep, striking purple, pretty in a way, but intimidating too. I had never seen anything like it.

Cautiously, I took a step forward, and opened the door.

_Thump. _The door hit an object on the other side, actually a man. He winced, and turned around. He was holding a spear, wearing a helmet. It took a couple seconds to realize that he was a guard. As soon as his emerald green eyes met mine, he took a step back.

"Violet," he murmured.

He seemed to take a moment to collect himself, and held out his arm. "Come with me, Ms. Asriel. "

As he led me through the gilded hallways, he muttered nonstop, and whenever I spoke, he seemed to be almost afraid of me. Unanswered questions hung in the air, filling every last corner of my thoughts. At last, after winding through many hallways, we stopped at a tall glass door that was trimmed with gold. He slowly rapped on it, and it seemed like forever before the doors finally opened. As I took a step into the room, I knew something was going to happen.

As I walked into the room, I was temporarily blinded. Sunlight filtered through painted glass windows, reflecting off of thousands of tiny gemstones embedded in the glittering gold wall. In the middle of the room were two thrones, side by side. High, arched backs and two finely crafted armrests curled at the end. The backs were engraved with large phoenixes, its wings spread out wide, rubies in its eyes. The left throne was taken by a woman. She was dressed in a beautiful golden dress, a silvery tiara placed upon her auburn hair, which was in a perfect French twist. Gold flecks in her warm green eyes matched the shimmers of her dress. On the right throne was a man, a silky mass of marbled black and gray curls posed perfectly underneath his crown of gold. He had a serious, grave face, yet his eyes twinkled softly with good-nature and playfulness. I didn't know what to do, so I swept into a deep curtsy, almost falling over. The guard bowed deeply and walked briskly to the man. He whispered something into his ear, and a surprised, almost troubled look swept across his face. The guard finished talking, and swiftly walked out of the room, leaving me alone with the man and woman. The man peered at me, his hand running across his bearded chin.

"What is your name?"

"Arielle Asriel."

The woman beside him gasped, and looked at him, eyes sending a message an urgent message to him.

"Asriel..."he mumbled under his breath. He lifted his head and looked at me straight in the eye."Do you know where you are?"

My mouth opened. "No."

He nodded his head. "And do you know who you are?"

I looked into his questioning emerald green eyes. I knew who I was, didn't I? I was a fourteen year old girl, living on Rhubarb Street in London, Britain. I was the top student in the class, was on the varsity volleyball team, and daughter of Rose and Andrew Asriel. I was about to say all that and demand him to let me wake up and get ready for school tomorrow. But a small voice at the back of my head was persistently saying that this wasn't a dream. And did I really know who I was? Did I really fit in with everyone else? Was I truly who I thought I was? I had always felt special in a way that was different than everyone else, in a way that I could never explain.

My voice was rough, barely above a whisper. "No."

.

His eyes were boring holes into my flesh. "You are in palace of Lavintia. Our subjects are currently in mortal peril from the darkness. There was a prophecy over five hundred years ago, created by a dragon, saying that a person with violet eyes would save us from it. We believe that person is you. You are the new protector of the Stone, and you are the only one meant to save us."

I froze, shocked into silence. "W-_What?" _I managed to choke out.

He didn't reply, but sat there, watching me.

After a shocked silence, the woman stood up, and beckoned an old lady into the room. She whispered into her wrinkled, leathery ear, and the elderly woman nodded. "Come with me, Madame Asriel.

We left the room, my thoughts swimming like a whole sea of fish, colliding and blurring until they all became one thought. _How is this possible?_

Fortunately, the old woman didn't ignore me like the guard did. She had a kind, wrinkled face, like someone drew a big smiley face on a piece of paper then crumpled and smoothed out again. "Are you okay, dear?"

I was silent. One part of me wanted to burst out into hysterical laughter, another wanted to curl up and sleep until the end of the world.

She looked at me with understanding eyes, and all of my heart spilled out, coming in such a tidal wave, jumbling together, my tongue tripping over my words.

"Where am I?... What do they want…How did I get here? How is this possible?" All the disbelief and fear spilled out. And when mixed together tasted salty, and it streamed down my cheeks. She took my face in her hands. "I don't know. I just know that you're here for a reason."

With that, we continued down the hallway, silence ringing in my ears. We stopped at a door, and she pulled out an old brass key. Her worn hands twisted it, and a click rang through the hallway, seeming impossibly loud after the quiet. She gripped the golden door knob and muttered something. I heard a gentle swish, and the door opened. The woman beckoned me in, and my feet took a step in. It was beautiful. It was more beautiful than the throne room I was just in. It was me. It was my dream bedroom I had always wanted; only…it was all purple. Violet curtains draped over the windows, bits of silver threads glimmering. The bedspread was pale lavender, soft and welcoming. A white dresser sat in the corner, glowing softly from the color of the purple flames in the fireplace. The walls were pale silver, shining, as if it had been bathed in moonlight.

"This is where you will be staying for now. This room will give you whatever you need or want. Ask for a drink."

I blushed, and sheepishly faced the wall. "I need a drink."

A gentle pop, and on the painted nightstand beside was a frosty glass of some kind of pale green liquid. "Take a sip."


End file.
